The Deep End
by scared-of-slender
Summary: When Janine Black's twin brother Jacob becomes a werewolf, it's not just his life that gets turned upside down, it's Janine and Paul's too. Paul/OC
1. Chapter 1

I was finishing my lunch when Jake's snoring stopped but it wasn't until I had done the dishes that he appeared wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

"Morning Janine." He grinned.

"More like afternoon Bud. What's with the clothes?"

"I'm really warm." He shrugged making a bee line for the fridge. I didn't comment on the fact that it was about 40 degrees out; maybe he'd had a bad dream and sweated a lot in bed. I also didn't bother screaming at him for drinking out of the carton because I knew he'd be finishing the whole thing anyways. Teenage boys are bottomless pits! He went from there to the cereal cupboard and I got him a bowl and spoon.

"So, what are you doing today?"

"I'm going to see a movie with Bella and Michael Newton tonight." There was obvious distaste in his voice when he spoke of Mike and I could only assume that it was because he saw him as competition for Bella's affection. There couldn't be another reason; Mike was a pretty nice guy.

"But we promised Quil that we'd go to his house and play X-Box."

"Yeah and I'll still go, I'll just leave a little earlier." He shrugged like it was just that simple. Thing is, it wasn't that simple anymore, not since Embry became a disciple. We were all upset but Quil was definitely hurting the most. After all, it was he who'd had Embry tell him in a not so kind way that he didn't want us around anymore.

"Can't you cancel Bella?" I asked hopefully but I knew the answer would be no. Jake would rather lose a limb than have to sacrifice time with Bella.

"Why would I do that?"

"Quil needs you Jake. Embry's deserted him and now you're doing the same thing to him just for a girl you don't have a shot with. _I_ need you Jake."

"Bella's one of my best friends." He stated blankly like it was the answer to everything. "She needs me too."

"I know Jake but she's healing now, Quil needs you more. Jesus Christ Jacob!" I exclaimed, starting to lose patience and unleash months of irritation. "You gave out about Embry. You were hurt by him. You said he was a backstabbing, two faced, abandoning traitor and now you're doing the same thing! You're all that as well as a hypocrite!" I could see he was getting angry and a horrible part of me was glad to evoke negative emotions in him.

"You can come with us if it'll stop you being so bitchy!"

"Just shut the hell up and go on your own! It's obvious that you don't care about anything but Bella anymore! It's pathetic Jacob."

Jake began to shake at my words and I took no notice until the tremors got so strong and quick that he was no longer shaking but _vibrating_. The tension was building and I was about to ask him if he was okay when there was a burst of movement. Expecting him to rugby tackle me, I hopped up on the counter top, curled into a ball and closed my eyes. There was a lot of noise, like wood breaking. When I opened my eyes, there was cereal and milk all over the place along with the remains of our kitchen table and chairs. In the centre of the debris stood a horse sized russet wolf. I just stared at it for a few long moments and it stared back at me looking frightened. This couldn't be a prank; Jake just wasn't smart enough for something of this magnitude.

"J-Jake?" I squeaked with a tremor in my voice. The wolf pricked its ears and whined. "The legends." I muttered. "They must be true. Can you hear voices in your head Jake?" The large head shook from left to right. No. I was starting to feel a little less stupid talking to the large animal now seeing as it was responding to me. "Don't panic, I'll ring the Clearwaters' and talk to Dad, they mightn't have left to go fishing just yet."

I picked up the phone and dialled. It was answered after about two rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey Seth, its Janine. Have they left to go fishing yet?"

"Nope, I'll get Billy."

There was a long pause and I glanced back at Jake.

"Janine? Is everything okay?"

"Jake just turned into a wolf."

"Oh." He said, sounding neither surprised nor upset. "Sam Uley had something like that a little while back."

"Charlie?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's it. You should give Emily young a call. Her number is in my address book. Don't panic though, he'll be fine."

"Okay, see you later Dad. Don't fall in." I joked.

"I won't fall, I'll jump. See you later Jan."

The address book was left right next to the phone. I was much calmer as I picked it up and opened up the Y page. Emily's was the only number on there. She answered the phone with a very cheery voice.

"Hi Emily, this is Janine Black, Billy's daughter. Is Sam there?"

"Yup, I'll get him now."

"Hullo." Came Sam's deep voice.

"Hi Sam, its Janine Black. Uhm. . . my brother kind of exploded and Dad said you were the guy to call."

He burst out laughing at my description of things and I could still hear a smile in his voice when he spoke again. "Where is he?"

"In our kitchen." At this, Sam sobered instantly.

"Are you okay Janine?" His voice was frantic.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine." Gosh, Jake was the one that had changed species!

"Okay." He said sounding relieved. "I'm on my way."

The line went dead and I turned towards Jake unable to find anything to say.

After what seemed like an age of staring at the giant wolf in my kitchen, there was a knock on our back door. I opened it to Sam, Jared Cameron, Paul Lahote and Embry. I greeted the first three politely and hugged the last. He lifted me off the ground and twirled me around, something that he had never been able to do before. All of that, and piggyback duty, was Quil's

"Long time no speak ass hole." I grinned when he set me down on my feet.

"Miss me?" He grinned back.

"Like a hole in the head."

"You might like to go somewhere and let us deal with Jake." He told me quietly, looking kind of worried.

"That's okay, I've got to do the groceries but I have to ask why."

"Because he's gonna be naked when he phases back and we're going to have to tell him some stuff that he won't want to hear. Don't worry, you'll find out. Oh, buy tonnes of food; he's going to eat way more."

"Awesome." I said flatly taking the keys for the civic I bought from Rebecca out of the key bowl. "It's not like he wasn't a hoover before. See ya later bro. Glad you're back."

"Me too. See ya later" He grinned.

When I returned from the supermarket it was lashing rain so I decided to leave the groceries in the car and go inside to wait for the rain to ease off a little. I was nearing the door when it was flung open as Jake burst through and right past me.

"Who pissed in his coco pops?" I asked the other four wolves. Paul and Jared laughed – especially Paul who had a hilarious laugh- but Sam and Embry remained solemn.

"Sam's just told him that he can't see Bella anymore." Embry answered quietly.

"Oh." I winced. Embry didn't need to say anything his pained expression let me know that he understood how serious that was for Jacob.

I turned to follow my brother as he disappeared into the woods but a very large and hot hand grasped my wrist and spun me around to face Paul.

"I don't think that's a good idea. He told me looking and sounding so serious and concerned that I almost wasn't pissed off. Almost: I had little time for cocky, domineering young men such as Lahote.

"Well I do." I answered. I yanked my hand back but Paul just moved his with it. His eyes bored into mine and I couldn't read them, normally I was very good at assessing people's motives and emotions through their eyes.

"Let me go." I ordered.

"Paul." Sam said calmly. "Let her go."

Paul gnawed his lip still staring at me. He seemed not to hear Sam. "You have to promise me that if Jake gets upset, you'll get out of his way. If you don't you could get seriously hurt. You were lucky this morning."

"Alright, I'll get out of the way."

"Promise?" Was this guy for real? Why would I promise him my safety?

"Yeah," I answered hurriedly, deciding it was easier just to agree with a guy as tempermental as Lahote. "I promise." He slowly released his grip and I tore off into the woods.

**This is my first fic I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! Wow, it's been a long time and I'm sorry for that. I'm in my final year of secondary school and I've been so distracted with my personal life as well as my studies that I've been neglecting my writing. on June 5th I start "The Biggest Exams Of My Life" (Also referred to as the Leaving Certificate) and once that ends, I will be back to writing I also have a Rosalie/Emmett fic in the works too. Anyways, thanks for the reviews and favourites, sorry for the wait and here is chapter two :)**

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I stopped running when I emerged on the other side of the forest and crossed the road so I could make way down to First Beach. I sighed when Jacob came into view. As I had expected, he was sitting on the tree root where he and Bella sat when she first moved back to Forks and was asking him about the Cullens. I sat beside him and said nothing, waiting for him to talk when he felt like it.

"Aren't you repulsed?"

"No!"

"Janine, I'm a _monster_!"

"No you're not." I told him sternly. "You know well that it's what you _do _and not what you _are_ that makes you a monster . . . You don't have any dead hookers hidden in the garage, do you?" I asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"About thirty." Was his sarcastic reply. "You'll be joining them if you tell the cops."

"Hey, imagine Charlie putting you in the back of the cruiser and BOOM! Fur everywhere!"

He let out a hearty, normal laugh but once he stopped laughing, he reverted to depression.

"Jacob, you do know that you've always got options . . . right? Even when you think you don't."

"Jan, I can't stop phasing. I _have _to become a member of the pack." He whispered. He sounded lost. Lost and helpless and couldn't help but be reminded of the way he sounded in the months after Mom's death. I had sounded like that too but not now, I had no reason to and Jake needed reassurance.

"I know but you can choose how to deal with things, can't you? The way I see it, you've got two options. The first being that you go back there grudgingly and hate yourself and hate them and hate everything else. The second is that you give them a chance and try to be friends with them and make everybody's life a little easier."

"Really, you want me to be friends with _them_? You're the one that started calling them the cult."

"Yeah, before I knew they were wolves-"

"Oh my God!" He roared. "How can you act like its natural?" He was beginning to shake and Lahote's words and serious expression from earlier popped into my head: _You have to promise me that if Jake gets upset, you'll get out of his way. If you don't you could get seriously hurt. _I pushed them out of my mind, what did _he_ know about temper control?

"Because it is Jake. If it wasn't natural it wouldn't have happened and like I said, it's what you do and not what you are that makes you a monster. Your heart still beats, doesn't it? Aside from your size, you're no different to how you were this morning. . . come on Jake, they're not that bad. Jared's really nice and you liked Paul before he phased . . . and Sam seems okay."

"He forbade me from seeing Bella. . . I'm too dangerous to be around her." He growled. Even on two legs he growled sounded like a wolf, it was kinda cool.

"Well that's for her own sake then, not solely to torture you. Imagine how crappy you'd feel if you ever hurt her, or the heart attack she'd have if she found out."

"She's stronger than that Jan, she was with a leech, she'd be able to wrap her head around this. The only problem is I physically can't break alpha's orders."

I knew it seemed hypocritical of me to want Jake to see Bella when I'd criticised him for being too attached to her but he just looked so lost! For lack of a better simile, he looked like a lost little puppy. His eyes were just so big and soft and hurt looking.

"Well wait until you have a better hold on your temper and we'll work something out."

"Don't lie to me." He hissed. "I bet you're just delighted that I won't get to see her."

"You're always in a good mood when she's around. Who'll have to live with you when you're miserable as shit? Me. Not her. Learn to control yourself and we'll work a way around it but you need to prioritise Jake and take things one step at a time. Right now you should just wrap your head around the wolf aspect of your life."

I waited for a sarcastic "That's easy for you to say." And so I was surprised when my brother stood and stretched out a hand to help me up. I took it and he almost dislocated my arm when he pulled me up but said nothing. Without warning he embraced me and thanked me.

"Any time bro." I patted his arm when he released me and we began walking back.

I couldn't stop thinking about Paul and how. . . _weird_ he had been with me. I mean, it was my life. Who died and made him boss? But that look of concern in his eyes was so sincere that he couldn't have just been him acting like a dick. It must have been a wolf thing, they do call themselves protectors, perhaps he was a little just took the title to heart.

"_Ow_! What the heck Jake?" I screeched, rubbing my arm where he had just hit me.

"Sorry." He frowned, "I didn't realise I put _any_ power behind that. I was just trying to bring you back to Earth."

"To tell me what."

"Nothing, just that I can't believe you're so calm about me almost killing you." He shrugged.

"I'm only calm on the outside. I've already thought of forty different ways to dispose of your corpse." I dead panned.

"Well good luck with that." Came Embry's voice as he came towards us. "We're pretty much indestructible." He grinned flexing his biceps.

"Well you can gimme a piggyback back to my house then Mr. Muscle."

"You're only asking me 'cause Quil's not here." He accused but crouched down so I could hop on. Actually, the term hop on sounds much too fluid; It was a case of me leaping then attempting to clamber the rest of the way while he tried to steady me without touching my butt.

I waited to see if the guys would launch into talk of cars and sports but Jake was thinking too hard to talk and Embry's just quite so the task of driving away the awkward silence fell on me.

"What've you been up to for the last few weeks?"

"Not much, avoiding you guys mostly. You okay Jake?"

"Not really."

"Don't expect you to be. I thought I was going crazy and then I had to keep being a jerk to you guys which I'm sorry about by the way. . . especially that day at the beach."

"It's okay." I murmured, remembering how uncharacteristically sharp he had been with us that day. . . and how cut up we had been. Especially Quil. Jake seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me.

"Can't we at least let Quil in on the secret?" he sighed.

"I wish we could bro, it's gonna be tough for him." Embry's dreary tone matched Jake's then he became very optimistic. "He'll be joining us soon enough, he's already showing signs."

"He'll have to make do with me until then." I said. "He won't mind, he always thought I was the coolest."

"You know that's a lie, he always thought _he_ was coolest." Embry chuckled.

"True." I laughed and noticed that as we emerged from the trees I could hear muffled but raised voices.

"Here we go again." Em sighed.

"Do they fight often?"

"It's just Paul. I don't think he can go a day without losing his temper." Sure enough, when I listened closer I could hear Paul screaming.

"I'm not waiting! You can't order me to do this!"

"You know, Quil's always thought he was the hottest too." Embry said brightly. I think he was trying to avert our attention from the ruckus going on in our kitchen. "And we _know_ that's a lie, movie stars would kill to look like me."

"Keep dreaming! Though you are pretty buff now." I allowed as Paul stormed out of my house and began to walk very briskly in our direction with his eyes trained on the ground. He lifted his head slowly and his eyes locked on Embry and I before he stopped dead in his tracks. His entire frame tensed. He was breathing heavily and even from where I was, I could see his nostrils were flaring.

"Someone's got issues." I whispered in Embry's ear.

"You don't even know the half of it." He grumbled as Paul began to shake. "Hop off Janine and go back to the house. Give the three of us a very wide berth." I didn't question his judgement and complied briskly. Then he spoke to Paul.

"Paul, cool it. If you get any more territorial you may as well take a piss-" Embry's sentence was cut short and it began to rain scraps of cloth as a silver wolf ran from the spot Paul had been stood in. Embry quickly pulled off his shoes and Jared screamed at me to get back on the porch beside him which I did. By the time I got over to him, there was three wolves attacking each other and Sam was running around the side of the house on two legs to take off his clothes.

"You're brother's a natural!" Jared laughed with glee before being hit with realisation and looking at me in a very serious manner. "I don't think you watch this." He gently caught my arm and led me into the kitchen where I sat on one of the remaining chairs. "You've seen enough weird for one day." He decided.

"My brother's an idiot." I huffed. "Why did he need to get involved when he didn't even know what it was about?"

"He knows more than you know. Besides, Jake can't help it. When we first phase we struggle to keep a hold of our temper and to stay in human form, as you saw, _some _of us find it a little harder than others."

"You guys give him a lot of shit for that, huh?" I grinned.

"Yeah." He laughed. "But don't worry, he gives as good as he gets. Anyway, we're really volatile at first which is why Paul was so anxious about you going after Jake while he was upset."

"Oh." I nodded. He was just being nice then- even if he didn't go about it in the best way. "Are the other things true? The mind reading and spirit wives?"

"The mind reading is just when we're in wolf form and even that is a massive pain in the ass 'cause we know _everything_ going on in the other guys' head. And we call the spirit wives thing imprinting. That's why Sam left Leah, he imprinted on Emily."

"Oh" I frowned again. It just explained so much! Emily and Sam had always seemed like nice people and I had never understood why they would betray a loved one like they had done to Leah. "And Emily's scars aren't from a bear attack. Uh, Sam lost control and she was standing too close. You were really r_eally_ lucky this morning."

I kind of wanted to forget that part, for Jake's sake – I didn't want him to feel guilty.

"So have you imprinted?" I smiled. The gooey look in his eyes when he talked about the subject said it all, I just wanted to brighten the mood. . . plus, I was curious; Jared and I had kind of been friends before he joined the cult.

"Yeah." He beamed. "You know Kim Young?"

"Kim Young that's been in love with you since forever and always glared at me whenever she saw us together Kim?"

"Yeah." His smile broadened. "That Kim."

"Aw, that's really nice. I take it she knows you're a wolf then?"

"Yeah, it kind of freaked her out at first, naturally, but then she was really cool about it. Aw, she's great Jan! I can't wait for you to get to know each other."

I used the less than comfortable lull in the conversation to survey the damage done to the kitchen furniture and sighed big.

"Don't worry about it, we'll clean it later."

"Awesome," I smiled figuring that the 'we' he spoke of was the group of supernaturally gifted guys. "Thanks."

"No problem. Wolves, protectors. Serving the community and all that." He shrugged. "Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself or anything."

"Really, you wouldn't want me to hurt myself? Have you forgotten the fact that you almost spilled sulphuric acid on me in chemistry?"

"Another great thing about you knowing: It'll be nice to have someone I can blow things up with again!" He nodded.

"What're we blowing up?" Paul asked strolling into the kitchen.

"Where are Jake and Embry?"

"Doing patrol. Sam's pushing your Dad up the driveway."

I just nodded but I was thinking _quit staring at me. _Dad greeted the three of us politely and Sam asked Paul and Jared to clean up the mess and bring it down to the bonfire as he pushed Dad through the kitchen.

"Dad, I'm going to Quil's, I'll be back later."

"Okay, have fun." Dad said as Sam pushed him towards the living room.

"I can't- I- you- I" Paul spluttered, staring at me. I just frowned at him in confusion.

"What?"

"You can't go to Ateara's. It's not safe."

"What the Hell?" I exclaimed. I could hear Sam say Paul's name in a warning tone from the other room. "First you try to stop me from going near my brother and now _'it's not safe' _for me to see Quil. Who died and made you my carer? My safety is none of your business! _What is your problem?"_

He stared at me dumbfounded for a few seconds before speaking.

"I dunno what my problem is." He shrugged and a cocky grin appeared on his undeniably attractive face. "Maybe you could come to Port Angles tonight and help me figure that out over dinner."

Now, I figured that he was trying to intimidate and embarrass me into silence, making him the winner of the little showdown we were having. I thought that saying what I was going to say next would wipe the smile off his face.

"Okay then."

His smile only grew wider. "Seven thirty an okay time to pick you up?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Awesome, see you later." He beamed and walked out of my house with a pile of broken table and leaving me a little unsure about what I had just agreed to.

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The clouds were kind enough to stop weeping long enough for me to walk to the Ateara household without getting rained on. I could hear music blaring out of Quil's stereo before I even reached the door so I just let myself in. he wouldn't hear if I knocked and he was definitely the only one in if his music was that loud. I did knock on his bedroom door when I reached it.

"Yeah?" He yelled without changing the volume of the music.

"Are you naked?" I called back.

"No, come in." so I did and he was playing Grand Turismo on his X-box."Will you turn that down? I'm too busy."

I did as I was told then plopped down on the bed beside him and tried to distract him from what he was doing because a pissed off, gaming Quil was always hilarious. But it was always more hilarious when Em and Jake were there. I sighed, I knew it was a selfish way for me to look at things but this wolf pack was seriously impacting the amount of time I had with my friends. I knew I had other friends like Jessica and Simone but they just weren't the same as my guys.

"If you think any harder you'll pull a muscle." Quil said flatly.

"You don't sound like you're usual peppy self."

"Nor do you. . . Jake's joined the cult, hasn't he?"

"Yeah." I sighed. He shook his head and sighed. He looked tired, he looked old, he looked serious. He didn't look like him and I didn't like it.

"So I'm not going to be seeing him."

"Not for a while, no. but you'll see plenty of me." I told him softly.

"Ew." He wrinkled his nose. Jesus, even his insults were half assed. I knew how crap I felt when Em abandoned us and now Quil had that doubled. I could only imagine how lost and wierded out he felt.

"Uh, there's something I don't want to tell you but I think you should hear it from me."

"Don't tell me Sam's got to you too!"

"No, but Paul has . . . I'm going on a date with him tonight."

Well that did it. Apparently Quil had too much crap bottled up because he went on one of the longest, most hilarious rants ever. The words were coming out of him so fast that I couldn't catch most of them but I did catch something about demented quintuplet wannabes on steroids. That one was hysterical!

"Do you think it's funny?" He screamed at me. "Embry and Jacob are turning into fucking clones of psychopaths!"

"They aren't psychopaths." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, you know they are! Since when did the sun start to shine outa Sam Uley's ass?"

"It's not like that Quil." I insisted calmly, all humour leaving me.

"They've gotten to you too. And you're going on a date with Lahote. You'll probably come home pregnant." He spat.

We looked at each other for a split second and part of me wanted to tear into him and insult him in a way he'd have to get out a dictionary to find out what kind of a jerk I thought he was but I didn't.

I stood, walked out of his room and slammed the door behind me. He didn't follow me - a wise decision on his behalf.

"How's Quil?" Dad asked lightly when I stormed into the kitchen. It looked eerily bare with no table and just two chairs.

"An arrogant prick." I muttered.

"And does he know you feel this way?" Quil Sr. asked in his gravelly old voice. The voice that had told too many legends to count.

"After what he said, I'm sure he knows that's what he is."

"He always speaks without thinking." Old Quil sighed.

"A lot like Janine." Dad muttered under his breath. I still heard it though. I grabbed a banana and headed for my bedroom. "Oh Jan, there's going to be a ceremony for Jake at seven." Dad called out when I was at the foot of the staircase, stopping me in my tracks.

"What kind of ceremony?"

"It's to welcome him into the pack. He'll get a haircut and a tattoo. The whole pack'll be there as well as the imprints and the elders. Will you come?"

"Sure." I said, a small lump forming in my throat as I trudged to my bedroom. I'd been on an emotional rollercoaster in the space of a few hours. I got a severe shock when my twin exploded but I had to keep calm for him despite any confusion or frustration I had. I was angry at Quil for insinuating that I was a slut. Whether or not he meant for it to sound like that, I didn't care, that's what it had sounded like to me. He knew I was a virgin, he knew I hadn't so much as held hands with anyone in six months- a long time for a teenager. I was mad at Paul for being such a dick and I was especially peeved off at myself for not realising that a guy like Lahote always had a back-up and for allowing him to be the cause of an argument between Quil and me.

All in all I'd had a crappy day and it wasn't even over: I had to go sit across a campfire from catalyst that had caused the most of my upset: Paul.

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**Thank you for reading! Hopefully the wait won't be so long this time and please review :)**


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